CDN Government: Mandate that all Boardrooms have 30% Female Representation by 2019

Recent studies have pointed to growing gender inequality within Canada's corporate boardrooms. To date, more than 700 publicly traded companies in Canada do not have a single woman on their board and women make up just 12% of all board seats available in our country.

Through this petition, the Corporate Gender Equality Initiative (CGEI) aims to end the growing lack of female representation in boardrooms. Section 28 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms established that man and woman are equal, yet we have yet to see such a reality in Canadian corporate culture. This is largely due to the government's lack of involvement in the issue.

While countries like Norway and France have stipulated that all major corporate boards must consist of at least 40% women, no branch of government or commission in Canada has taken the initiative to regulate female representation in the office. Although the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has recently implemented a 'comply-or-explain' model, no real progress is being made to end the gender gap, according to a recent article by the Toronto Star.

It is time for the OSC, the Ontario provincial government, and the federal government to more forcibly regulate companies' female representation. This petition calls for any one of these branches to implement a gender quota, stipulating that all public corporations' boards must have at least 30% female representation by 2019. All companies who fail to comply need to face delisting from the TSX, in order for such a policy to be effective.

Please sign our petition and join the fight to achieve #BoardroomEquality. Spread the word on social media, @BoardroomEqual